Astronomy

For this event, students are allowed to bring in a resource notebook with any reference materials they can fit in the notebook. The reference notebook will the be the most beneficial to the students if the students have prepared it themselves, and if they have spent time studying and organizing the information in the notebook before the tournament. I have had students in the past that simply print off hundreds of pages of reference material, then simply stick it in the binder and never spend another minute looking through it before the test. Needless to say, they don't get much use out of their resources that way. It was noted that the reference material must be attached to the rings of the binder. This prohibits students from slipping books into their notebook. However, they did suggest that if your students have charts or diagrams that they do not want to hole-punch, they can slip into a clear sheet protector that is attached to the notebook.

During the astronomy presentation, our presenter said that the best way for the students to prepare for this event is by spending time on the websites that are listed at the bottom of the astronomy page in the event manual. He also mentioned that this is a year of eclipse for the variable star epsilon aurigae. I don't know a lot about astronomy, but our presenter said that this is a very big deal in the astronomy community and that there will most likely be questions about that on the tests, so make sure your students spend some time looking into that.

Amphibians and Reptiles

There is a lot of information available to help students prepare for this event. Karen Lancour, the woman who presented this event at the summer institute and is the head of the biology committee for the national science olympiad, has already posted a variety of resources on the national SO website. There is a very detailed training guide for students, a link to different internet resources, as well as a sample test. In addition to using these resources to prepare, Karen did present a few other tips that can help students to be successful in this event.

1. Make sure the students are familiar with the field guide they bring in to the test. The students are allowed to write in the field guides and use post-it notes as markers. But to be truly successful, they need to have looked through the field guide as many times as possible before the tournament. Karen said that the students who have never looked through their field guides before going in to take the test generally spend all of their time trying to look up specimens for identification, and do not have time to answer any of the questions about habitat, ecology, behavior, etc. Students who are very familiar with their field guide will be able to easily identify specimens, and then can use the field guides to help answer additional questions about the specimens.

2. Have the students look through as many different field guides or resources as possible. Different field guides will have different pictures of each animal. If students have only seen one picture of a certain family or genus of animals, they may have a hard time with identification on the test. Again, the national website has a list of resources that students can use as they prepare for this event.

3. Make sure your students know which of the organisms on the list can be found in your home state. It is very likely that these organisms will appear on the test!

Science Olympiad Summer Institute

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Science Olympiad Summer Institute this year, and came away from it totally recharged and excited to get my team going this year. During the course of the week long institute, we were able to attend sessions for every event that will be a part of the Olympiad competition this year. During the next few weeks I plan to submit a post for each specific event with all of the helpful hints I gathered at the summer institute. Today I wanted to post some of the overall pieces of advice I brought home with me about setting up and preparing a successful team.

1. You do not have to be an expert in every subject to be a successful coach or set up a successful team. They really emphasized putting the burden on the students to find the information they need to prepare for an event. They suggested giving the students a few textbooks, along with the state and national science olympiad websites and letting them go from there to find what they need.

2. Have the students put together a folder of information they can use to prepare for an event, even if they will not be able to bring that folder with them at the competition. If the students are allowed to bring the folder of reference materials with them, they will be better equipped to use it if they have found the information and put it together themselves.

3. Have three or more students prepare for each event, even if only two will be allowed to compete in the event. This way, if you have scheduling conflicts, or students that are not able to compete at the last minute, you will still be able to compete.

4. Nothing can take the place of good old fashioned practice! In the past it has been hard for me to find things for my students to do to practice, but I came away from the summer institute with a lot of great activity ideas that you can even squeeze into a lunch time meeting. You can look forward to reading them as I post about each of the events!

Please feel free to email me if you have any specific questions about the summer institute or science olympiad in general.

Kristi Tolman
Chandler High School
chsscienceclub@gmail.com

Me and My Shadow

You veteran coaches know first hand what a great experience the Science Olympiad program is for students ... don't you want to see every interested youngster have the opportunity to participate? Here's a way you can help.

Bring a science teacher from another school to the state tournament. What better way is there for them to find out what the Science Olympiad is all about than by seeing it for themselves, talking to other coaches, and shadowing you for the day? Your colleague will receive a Science Olympiad tournament shirt as a memento and you will receive a gift card. Hopefully they will be inspired to bring a team from their school next year.

FAQs -- Money

Where do I get the money??

The costs of participating in the Science Olympiad include a $200 registration fee and the cost of supplies used for construction and laboratory events. You may also need to plan for the cost associated with travel.

• Besides the usual fund raising activities like car washes, bake sales, etc., (which are great for building team spirit), if you have or form an extracurricular science club, parents and community members can contribute Arizona tax credit money to your club. Be sure you speak to your administration to establish a club account and get your club listed among the choices on the mailer sent to the service area and/or on the schools' tax credit web page so it will be easy for donors to contribute.
• You may also be able to get local retailers to donate materials and/or to sponsor your team.
• Take advantage of grant money offered by the Science Olympiad -- there are funds available to help with travel costs, to help support new teams, and for helping to recruit new schools to participate.
  
• It is also possible to receive prize money towards next year’s expenses at the state tournament. Some of these club account funds are awarded based on the team's place in an event and some is given randomly from among the teams participating in a particular event.

Other ideas? What have you found helpful?

FAQs -- Keeping this rolling

How do you sustain the momentum from year to year??

• When you are at the tournament emphasize your pride in their accomplishments, regardless of how they place. Emphasize the goals of having fun, supporting one another and being good sportsmen as they prepare and compete. Be enthusiastic; that positive attitude combined with the camaraderie of the team will foster a contagious energetic spirit.
• Ask your administration to recognize the team for competing at the State Tournament in any way possible (newsletters, news on web page, school announcements, district board meetings).
• Recruit freshman and sophomores as well as juniors and seniors each year. Those lower classman will become the nucleus of the next year's team. Soon the Science Olympiad club will "take on a life of its own" and become self-perpetuating.
• After you get your own team established, you may want to think about reaching out to your “feeder” middle or junior high schools and encourage the science teachers there to consider getting their students involved in the Science Olympiad (Division B). When these students reach high school, they will be likely to want to continue to participate,

Other ideas? Post a comment.

FAQs -- Partial Team

What if I can't get 15 kids interested?
Involve as many students as you can. You are not required to have a full team (although it will likely be difficult to participate in all events if you don't). Once students experience the excitement of competing in the State Tournament they will be your best ambassadors to promote the program for future years.


Do we have to participate in all the events?
Your team is not required to participate in all events. If you can, it is a good idea to have at least one student go to each event (even if they don't feel prepared) to get some insight as to what the event is. (That information will allow the team to better prepare for next year's tournament. There is nothing quite like seeing the event with your own eyes. Only a few events are open to the public. The only way to see what "closed door" events are like is to have a student participate. Coaches and other students are not allowed to observe these events).

Share your ideas. Write a comment.

FAQ -- Preparing for Events

How do you prepare students for so many different events??

There are a lot of events in the Science Olympiad, and you can't expect to be an expert in all of them. Here are some ideas to help you keep from feeling overwhelmed.

• Try to get other teachers at your school involved. If they cannot help you with coaching, ask them to be available as mentors to students. If nothing else perhaps they would be willing to help chaperone the students at the state tournament; that experience may help win them over for next year.
• Try to get business people in your area involved; students or other faculty may know parents, engineers, technologists who may be interested in helping the students preparing for an event or two.
• Sometimes you will have students who are willing to accept the challenge of a particular event on their own.
• Ask for help. The Arizona Science Olympiad board has contacts with societies of scientists and engineers, and we may be able to find an individual in your area who may be willing to help mentor students in a particular event.
• Limit your participation to those events with which you are most comfortable and then have students get ideas by observing other events at the State tournament and talking to other students. Like any athletic team, there will be "building years."
• Approach coaches from other schools in your area. Many are willing to help you get started. The AZ Science Olympiad blog (http://azscienceolympiad.blogspot.com) also provides a venue to get information and answers from other teachers.
• Attend a national coaches training. The AZ Science Olympiad has grant money to help pay for your registration fees and travel expenses.

Other ideas? Write a comment.

FAQ -- Team building

How do I get students involved??

If you already have a science club, ask how many students would be interested in participating. Talk about the Science Olympiad to your science classes and ask your science colleagues to do the same. Describe some of the events and emphasize how much fun they will have. You might also invite other students to come find out about the Science Olympiad through your school announcements. Be sure to describe how the club will be perfect for students who are creative, want to get involved, have fun and do hands-on activities. You might also invite the State Directors (Hal Eastin and/or Aggie Paluch) or a coach from another team in your area to meet with your science club or a group of interested students.

Other ideas? Post a comment.

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Welcome to the AZ Science Olympiad Blog

We hope that this blog will provide a place for all of us to share ideas, facilitate greater participation, and make the Science Olympiad a more satisfying experience for everyone involved.

Our main web page continues to be http://www.gccaz.edu/biology/so and this is the site that will have downloadable forms, event descriptions, and critical announcements. This blog is intended instead to be more of a discussion group where coaches can share their experiences, information, ideas, suggestions, and concerns with one another. We hope that "veterans" will be able to share their experiences with "rookies" and that "rookies" may bring some new ideas to the mix.

Anyone can read this blog, but to write postings or comments, you will need to be a member. Coaches registering their teams will become automatic members (and should receive an e-mailed invitation to join); other interested individuals may complete this form to subscribe.

Coaches ... this is your blog. We look forward to reading what you want to talk about.